Fun Facts about 'Gone With The Wind'''''''''''''' '

DID YOU KNOW....

-Half a million feet of film were shot. All of it was edited down to only 20,000 feet.

-Some working titles for the book while Margaret Mitchell was writing were, "Tomorrow is Another Day", "Not in Our Stars", "Bugles Sang True", and "Tote the Weary Load." The most famous working title was "Baa! Baa! Black Sheep".

-It is estimated that if David Selznick included all the dialogue from the book in the movie, Gone With The Wind would be about 168 hours long. And that is just the dialogue.... they would still have to add all the dances, entrances, etc.

-Barbara O'Neil, who played Ellen, (Scarlett's mother) was only about 3 years older than Vivien Leigh.

-Margaret Mitchell did not approve of the text at the introduction that reads: "There was once a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind..."

-Margaret Mitchell got the idea for her book title from the 13th line of the Ernest Dowson poem, Cynara. That line is: "I have forgot much Cynara! Gone with the wind."

-David O. Selznick bought the movie rights from Margaret Mitchell for 50,000 dollars. At the time, it was the highest price ever paid for a first novel.

-Even though in the book Scarlett's eyes were "pale green without a touch of hazel," Vivien Leigh's eyes were actually blue. When possible, they adjusted the lighting to make her eyes look green.

-Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes) thought he was too old for the role. His character was about 21 at the start of the film, while Howard was in his mid-forties. He eventually agreed to the role because he was given producer credit on "Intermezzo: A Love Story." But he still wore extra makeup and a hair piece to make him look younger.

-There were more people in that section in Atlanta during the premier than there were at the height of the Civil War, when the soldiers were defending the city.

-There are 8 Tarleton children in the book. They are: Stuart, Brent, Tom, Boyd, Hetty, Camilla, Randa, and Betsy. They all have different shades of red hair.

-For the premier in Atlanta on December 15, 1939, the governor of Georgia declared a state holiday. Ticket prices for the premier were going 40 times the usual rate.

-Selznick's first choice for Rhett was actor Gary Cooper. But he passionately rejected the role. He said "Gone With The Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I'm glad it's going to be Clark Gable falling flat on his feet, not me." Wow. He was probably kicking himself after the movie came out. And for the rest of his life.

-Although many people pronounce Vivien Leigh's name as Vivien "Lay," it is actually pronounced Vivien "Lee."

-In August 1936, six weeks after publication, Macmillan estimated that if all copies of 'Gone With The Wind' that were sold were piled on top of each other, the stack would rise 50 times higher than the empire state building.

-Margaret Mitchell was only 4 ft 11 in. She was so short that her desk and chair legs had to be cut so she could sit comfortably.

-All four main characters only appear together in one scene, after the raid on Shantytown, when Rhett tells Scarlett that her husband, Frank Kennedy, is dead.

-'Gone With The Wind' stayed the #1 best selling book in America for 2 whole years (1936-1937) The sequel, published in 1991, 'Scarlett,' (by Alexandra Ripley) was the #1 best selling book in the country for one year, even though it got some nasty reviews from critics.

-In "The Burning of Atlanta" scene, actual sets are being burnt. Selznick needed to get rid of some old sets, like 'King of Kings' and 'King Kong,' and what better way to do it than burn it for another movie?

-Mitchell wrote the end of the book first. She knew Rhett and Scarlett weren't going to make it. The first chapter is the one she wrote last, and it is also the one that she liked the least. Maybe that is why the book is slow in the beginning...?

-A GWTW cookbook was offered to buyers of Pebeco Toothpaste. Some recipes are: Melanie's Sweet Potato Pie and Mammy's Creole Rice. With three wrappers from Lux Soap, fans could also buy for 15 cents a simulated cameo broach like the one Vivien Leigh wore in the movie.

-Although this is his most famous film, Clark Gable disliked this movie greatly. He said it was a "ladies' picture."

-If ticket prices are adjusted for inflation, this is the highest grossing film of all time.

-There are more than 50 speaking roles and 2,400 extras in the film.

-'Gone With The Wind' is the 34th best selling book of all time.

-David Selznick traveled to Bermuda in 1938 to finalize the script. He reportedly brought four suitcases full of drafts with him.

-None of the scenes were actually filmed in the south, except for a few of the opening credits.

-In 1939, you could not curse in films. But Selznick, however, was determined to use the word "damn" at the end of the movie. It is rumored that he paid an extra $5,000 to use that word, but I am not sure if that is true or not, because all of the sources I have seen have been controversial. The world may never know....

-The first scene to be shot was the burning of the Atlanta Depot. If one thing went wrong, the whole production could be cancelled.

-In the scene where Scarlett goes looking for Dr.Meade among 1,600 soldiers, only 800 of them were real men. The other 800 were dummies that Selznick scattered around. He did this to cut costs.

-Female costumes were made complete with petticoats, even though the audience wouldn't notice . if they were there or not.

-Margaret Mitchell's original name for Scarlett was "Pansy," and her original name for Tara was "Fountenoy Hall." Gladly, she changed them.

-Clark Gable was so stressed out for the requirement that he cry when Scarlett has her miscarriage, he almost quit. Olivia de Havilland convinced him to stay, and cry. After watching a clip of him crying and one without crying, Gable admitted that when he cried, the clip was better.

-The scene that is most commonly known as "The Burning of Atlanta," is actually not when Atlanta was burnt. It was 2 months earlier, when the Confederate Troops torched its ammunition dumps to keep the Yankees from capturing them. This is cleared out in the book, when Scarlett hears it from Frank Kennedy, at Tara.

-Billie Burke (known for being Glinda, the good witch in 'The Wizard of Oz') was considered to be Aunt Pittypat, but the producers thought that at 54, she was too young for the role.

-This is the longest movie ever to win a Best Picture Award, being almost 4 hours long.

-1,100 horses were used in this film.

-To add to the publicity, fans were asked to vote on who they think should play Scarlett. Out of hundreds of ballots cast, Vivien Leigh got only one vote.

-Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy, was the first African-American to be nominated for an Oscar. She also won. Her words were: "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, fellow members of the motion picture industry and honored guests: This is one of the happiest moments of my life, and I want to thank each one of you who had a part in selecting me for one of their awards, for your kindness. It has made me feel very, very humble, and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything that I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry. My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel, and may I say thank you and God Bless you."

-Leslie Howard was one of the few cast members that did not attend the premier in Atlanta. War had just broke out in England (his home country) so he went back to help with the war effort.

-Olivia de Havilland always deeply researched her roles. She had never been a mother or a wife at the time of the filming. So, for the scene where Melanie gives birth to her baby, the visited a maternity hospital. Also, off-camera, the director was twisting her ankles to give her "labor pains."

-If the number of total admissions are calculated, this is the most popular movie of all time.

-Even though he played Brent Tarleton in the movie, the opening credits mistakenly say that Fred Crane played Stuart and that George Reeves played Brent.

-Leslie Howard didn't even bother to read the original novel.

-Margaret Mitchell's nickname was "Peggy."

-Vivien Leigh hated the kissing scenes with Clark Gable. She said that his breath smelled terrible. This is probably because he had false teeth, a result of excessive smoking.

-Ona Munson, who played Belle Watling, considered this film to be a curse. She was continually typecast afterwards.

-Judy Garland, more commonly known as Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz,' was going to play Suellen, Scarlett's sister, until she was wanted for Dorothy.

-Scarlett's first son (in the book), Wade Hampton Hamilton, was in an early draft of the script, but was cut from the story before filming began.

-Ironically, Ashley Wilkes, played by Leslie Howard, was one of the few county men who didn't die in the war. Leslie Howard sadly died in WWII.

-Margaret Mitchell's father was perhaps her most severe critic. According to Mitchell, her father said "Nothing in the world would induce him to read the book again and that nothing in the world except for the fact that [Peggy] was his child induced him to read in originally." Wow. Pretty supportive dad she had there.

-88 hours of film were shot. The normal amount of film shot is 20 hours for a 2 hours long movie, so GWTW should have only had 40 hours!

-The original running time was 226 minutes.

-1,400 candidates were interviewed for the part of Scarlett, and only 90 were given screen tests.

-'Gone With The Wind' is a unique Civil War movie because is does not show any battles. It only shows the effects of the war.

-Micheal Jackson paid $1,542,500 for David Selznick's best picture Oscar from GWTW.

-A Brazilian woman paid $95,500 for the pink patterned dress that Vivien Leigh wore during the "Burning of Atlanta" scene, and for a majority of her time spent at Tara. The woman also claims to have seen the film 8,000 times.

-GWTW was an instant success. 50,000 copies a day were sold in the early months, and 1,000,000 copies were sold in less than half a year. No less than 250,000 copies per year have been sold since publication.

-Margaret Mitchell hated the sets for Tara and Twelve Oaks. She said, "I grieve to hear that Tara has columns. Of course, it didn't and looked nice and ugly like Alex Stephens' Liberty Hall in Crawfordville, Georgia.' And, "I had feared, of course that Twelve Oaks would end up looking like the Grand Central Station, and your description confirms my worst apprehensions. I did not know whether to laugh or throw up at the TWO staircases... God help me when the reporters get me after I've seen the picture. I will have to tell the truth, and if Tara has columns and Twelve Oaks is such an elegant affair I will have to say that nothing like that was ever seen in Clayton County, or, for that matter, on land or sea... When I think of the healthy, hardy country and somewhat crude civilization I depicted and then of the elegance that is going to be presented, I cannot help yelping with laughter..."

-If the movie were to be made today, the cost would be over 40 million dollars.

-Although it is believed that Margaret Mitchell only wrote one book, she also wrote a book when she was 15, called 'Lost Laysen.' The manuscript was found and published in 1996. It was found in a shoe box.

-In her will, Margaret Mitchell that her childhood home should be buried upon her death, for she didn't want non-family members living in it and she didn't have any children. Hmm..... I wonder where Scarlett's "love of the land" came from?

-Margaret Mitchell called the apartment where she wrote a majority of GWTW, "The dump." It was very small and crowded.

-Mitchell was suprised when they cast Vivien Leigh as Scarlett because she thought Mrs. Leigh looked much like herself when she was in her early twenties.

-President Jimmy Carter recalled the premiere of GWTW in Atlanta as "The biggest event to have happened in the south in my lifetime."

-The word 'Rhett Butler' is used more times than the word 'Scarlett O'Hara' in the book. 'Rhett Butler' is used 82 times, and 'Scarlett O'Hara' only 26. I guess they were on a more of a first-name basis.

-David Selznick used all 7 Technicolor cameras in existence for the filming of GWTW.

-I realized this, gasped, and leaped out of my chair. Thomas Mitchell, who played Gerald O'Hara, Scarlett's father, was born on July 11, 1892. Leslie Howard, who played Ashley, was born April 1, 1893. Leslie Howard was only a year younger than Thomas Mitchell, so, in the movie, if you take both of the actors' birthdays into account, Ashley was only a year younger than Gerald. Wow.

-There were a total of 5 directors for GWTW. First was George Cukor, who was fired because Clark Gable didn't like him. Then, Sam Wood was hired to fill in. The director came in next, and got all the credit, was Victor Fleming. Also, during the filming, Fleming collapsed from exhaustion, so Selznick called in two second-unit men to direct temporarily.